1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for reading or writing information from or onto an information bearing credit card, and more particularly the invention relates to such an apparatus that is manually operable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In credit card reading devices which read or write information from or to an information bearing credit card, it has been found necessary to control the relative velocity between the credit card and the reading head. As the prior art has developed, sophisticated reading codes have been realized which result in complex reading schemes commanding a definite speed between the card and read head.
However, in order to save energy and reduce costs, more emphasis has of late been directed toward hand-operated credit card readers. Originally, hand-operated credit card readers were utilized with simple informational retrieval systems which counted dots or bars, making the relative speed of the card past the read head of little consequence. However utilizing the above-mentioned advance in the art of more sophisticated reading codes necessitates adequate control of the relative reading velocity.
Several hand operable devices have tried to cure this problem. For example, gravitational forces have been utilized to carry a card along an inclined plane for a predetermined distance, thus establishing a substantially predetermined card speed at a designated point along the card's path. Similarly, spring means have been utilized for contractingly pulling a card past a fixed read head, thus generating a predetermined card speed at the read location where the coefficient of the spring and the distance of spring expansion remains fixed.
But often in certain applications it is necessary that the operator retain his hand on the card or carriage during movement thereof. This is necessary where the credit card reader works in association with print imparting means and the operator must apply a transverse force with respect to the movement of the carriage to insure proper printing of embossed credit card information on a receipt ticket. Also, in fingerprint reading devices the operator is required to leave his thumb or palm in a specified location on the carriage during movement thereof.